Pantano called Congressman McIntyre’s numbers a "myth" during the 8/20 debate and wants the media and the voters to hold the congressman to account for using bad numbers to justify runaway spending to please liberal special interest groups.

Wilmington, NC: Congressman Mike McIntyre, in a press release on August 10th claimed that he supported the twenty six billion dollar Education, Jobs, and Medicaid Assistance Act because it saved the teachers’ jobs. According to the Congressman’s own press release, which is now missing from his website, “In the 7th District alone, over 646 teachers’ jobs will be saved.” Then at last week’s Congressional Candidates Debate, the Congressman claimed 533 jobs were saved.

Saving hundreds of teacher’s jobs? That sounds like a great idea, right? The problem is there aren’t hundreds of teachers jobs in the 7th District that needed saving. In fact, immediately after the bill passed, state officials, according to the Raleigh News & Observer, met to decide where to spend the $300 million the state would receive from the bill because as the News & Observer reported “North Carolina hasn't had massive teacher layoffs, and so far local school systems haven't been threatening to dump jobs.” Mark Johnson, a spokesman for Governor Perdue, went even further saying “Many school systems, with the state's help, have their bills paid for the year.”

What about in the 7th District? Well, when a researcher with the Pantano campaign contacted local school districts across the 7th District to ask how many teachers had been laid off in recent years, the campaign discovered that there had been only 25 layoffs and that 22 of them had been rehired.

Where did Congressman McIntyre’s number of jobs “saved” come from then? When questioned on this yesterday by WECT, the Congressman pointed to numbers from the National Educators Association that are estimates on new teachers that could be hired if funds are distributed “to local educational agencies according to their relative shares of funds under Part A of Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.” But according to the News & Observer, the state of North Carolina is not planning to use this money for that. Instead, state officials are planning to use it to replace money already designated to be spent on education so they can in turn spend that money wherever they like.

“Why did Congressman McIntyre call up the NEA, the liberal teachers unions, to find out about teachers jobs in the 7th District? Why didn’t he talk to our local school officials, the real experts on our local schools? It sounds to me like McIntyre wasn’t interested in how many teachers’ jobs the bill would or wouldn’t save. Instead, he was just trying to find a way to justify his vote.”

“If Congressman McIntyre is so confident that this bill will ‘save over 646 teachers’ jobs’ in the 7th District why is his press release missing from his website? Why did the number of jobs saved change from 646 on August 10th when he voted to spend $26 Billion to 533 jobs on August20th?”

“If Congressman McIntyre had talked to our local schools officials and our state leaders it would have been obvious that the 7th District didn’t need this money to save teachers’ jobs. There haven’t been any laid off teachers whose jobs need saving. Instead of listening to the local experts, Congressman McIntyre voted for another bailout bill because the teachers union, the same on that always supports his candidacy, told him it was a good idea”

“Instead of doing something about our skyrocketing national debt or the double-digit unemployment rate in the 7th District, Congressman McIntyre is voting to spend $26 Billion to save the jobs of teachers that were never laid off to start with.”

Washington, DC—Today, U.S. Representative Mike McIntyre voted to save and create almost 320,000 jobs – including saving the jobs of 160,000 teachers and preventing the layoffs of tens of thousands of police officers, firefighters, and nurses.

In the 7th District alone, over 646 teachers’ jobs will be saved and local school districts will receive over $33 million for education funding.

The Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act is completely paid for, and it reduces the deficit by $1.4 billion over 10 years. It also closes a loophole that actually encourages corporations to ship American jobs overseas.

The legislation provides $10 billion in funding to save more than 160,000 teacher jobs. It also provides $16.1 billion in health assistance to the states that, by reducing shortfalls and stimulating the economy, will save and create 158,000 jobs, including preventing the layoffs of police officers and firefighters, as well as creating private-sector jobs throughout our economy.

The funding in the bill is supported by a majority of the nation’s Governors, including both Democratic and Republican Governors, and by numerous organizations, including the bipartisan National Conference of State Legislatures, National Association of Counties and the Leadership Council of Aging Organizations.

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